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Hekte
| Issuer | Phokaia |
|---|---|
| Year | 521 BC - 478 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Hekte (10⁄3) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Head of a female figure facing left, wearing a helmet or close-fitting cap adorned with a decorative crest, rendered in fine archaic Greek style with characteristic almond-shaped eye and serene expression. The hair is elaborately styled in tight granular curls falling at the nape of the neck, with an additional curl visible behind the ear. A small seal or tunny fish appears in the field behind the head, a distinctive symbol associated with Phokaia. The portrait is executed in bold high relief typical of early Ionian electrum coinage. |
|---|---|
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| Mint | Phokaia Mint |
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| Additional information |
Phokaia was among the earliest Greek cities to issue electrum coinage, a tradition reaching back to the late seventh century. By the time these hektai were struck, the city had survived the catastrophic Persian siege of 540 BC — after which a large portion of the population famously emigrated rather than submit to Harpagos — yet minting continued under Persian-dominated conditions, the coins circulating through Aegean trade networks that Persian imperial authority could not fully suppress.
Bodenstedt 32 falls within a well-documented sequence, the electrum drawn from natural alluvial sources with a gold-to-silver ratio that varied enough between dies to affect color and specific gravity noticeably across the type.